SOUTH ASIANS HUNGER STRIKE AT EL PASO & LASALLE

November 24, 2015

On October 14 2015, 54 South Asian detainees (#ElPaso54) from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan detained at the El Paso Detention Center started a hunger strike. They lasted 7 days without food or water, demanding an end to deportations and an investigation into allegations of mistreatment and medical neglect. By mid-October, another 14 South Asian asylum seekers (#LaSalle14) declared a hunger strike, at the LaSalle Detention Center in Louisiana.

DRUM served as coordination center for the hunger strikes and provided media and legal support for the hunger strikers organizing for their rights.

All of the detainees are asylum seekers who had passed their credible fear interviews and been given a “parole notification” – meaning that they had been interviewed by an immigration agent who determined they face legitimate threats if deported, and that ICE should have released them. Instead, some have been held in detention from 9 months up to 2 years, and recently, at least 33 detainees have had their parole notification and credible fear findings revoked. One asylum seeker was already deported from ElPaso despite the fact that he faces life threatening danger in Bangladesh. Since the hunger strike began, officials have tried to isolate the strikers, and continue to target, isolate and intimidate specific individuals.

The demands of the detainees:

DHS must stop their deportations and investigate the allegations below

DOJ and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) must investigate whether these individuals were given a fair and full hearing, including access to interpretation that they could understand, access to their own documents and decisions in their cases

DHS must release asylum seekers from detentio​n​

Transfer these individuals to detention facilities that are closer to their families

Stop the disparate treatment of South Asian immigrants detained in DHS facilities and ensure that these individuals are being provided with interpreters

The hunger strike was sparked by the deportation of one of the men, but the demands are based on their experience and treatment during the time that they have been at the detention center. The hunger strikers report that:

There is different treatment of South Asian detainees, with harsher responses and punishment for similar actions, compared to others

Many of the detainees are being forced to sign travel documents, and when they refuse to sign, they have transferred them to other facilities or threatened them with 4-10 years in prison

​T​here is no access to adequate medical care, and detainees are told to “drink water” when they complain of health issue​s

There are inadequate interpreters at the court during their immigration proceedings, and some have reported hostility from the immigration judges, with one person remembering the judge saying that there was too much money being spent on them, and that their deportation would help the U.S. save resources.

Moreover, we know that critical legal papers were being withheld from these asylum seekers, making it impossible for them to file their appeals on time. Most of them have already missed their deadlines because they did not receive their documents until the hunger strike.